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Predicting Profit
Economic Indexes Simplify Selection
Tree Tops Ranch’s two-yr-olds with calves at side sired by Bar CK Bulls
“...we bred [Bar CK Tebow 1006X] to 200 first-calf heifers...we got super calving ease and high
quality calves. We weaned those calves at less than 200 days in a very dry year and averaged
550 pounds on the steers and 500 on the heifers.
I know there are people who criticize API,
but I know it works!
”
- Berry Anderson, Manager, Tree Tops Ranch, Princeton, Oregon
Ask a group of Ranchers , “What’s the most important trait for your sustained success?”
Chances are you’ll get responses that include cow herd traits like Stayability or Heifer Pregnancy. Maybe you’ll get Calving Ease, Quality
Grade, or Post-Weaning Gain. Certainly someone will throw out Feed Efficiency. But, the obvious answer is the one that’s least often
heard -
Profit!
API & TI
are economic selection indexes; sometimes called profitability indexes. They are a single number predictions derived from the weighted
impact of each of an animals’ economically relevant traits (ERT) towards enterprise wide profitability. Just as EPDs predict relative performance, API
and TI predict relative profitability - a bull with an API of 140 is expected to produce $20 more profit per cow exposed than a bull with an API of 120.
API
includes all those traits that impact profitability when bulls are selected by an operation to breed both Angus cows and heifers, where females
will be retained as required to sustain constant herd size. Cull heifers and all steers are weaned, placed on feed, and marketed on a yield and grade
basis.
For operations that do not raise their own replacements,
TI
predicts the relative impact on profitability for bulls that are mated to mature Angus cows
and all calves are weaned, fed and sold on a yield and grade basis.
2013 marks the 70th anniversary of selection indexes’ application in animal breeding. Both API & TI are built on economic modeling that counts
the impact of one trait unit of each ERT, then accumulates the collective impact of an animals EPD/ERT profile on profitability. API and TI are both
“Systems Thinking” applied to beef cattle selection. When the goal is Profit these indexes represent a more direct and simplified approach to achieving
that goal.
